The world is addicted to oil and gas. The growing dependence has multiplied since these fossil fuels burst on to the world economic scene 120 years ago. Oil and gas powered a stage of industrialization that followed coal and steam.
A small cabal of mostly US, UK and European companies has long dominated the sale and control of these fossil fuels across the world. Their names are well known to Australians -BP, Shell , Chevron, Esso, and Total amongst others. Armed with the military and spy resources, these companies manipulated, assassinated, and financed coups to maintain their monopoly in nations and colonies across the world. Iran, Iraq, Syria, the Arabian Peninsula, Nigeria, and the Maghreb are most affected. The reign of the oil and gas monopolies was a rain of blood on insurgent nations and movements who opposed this imperialist exercise.
In time, nations with oil and gas grew more assertive and powerful and forced more favourable terms with the fossil fuel monopolies. Other nations, newly emerged and industrialised with economic power like China, test the limits of fossil fuel monopolies.
Even before the IPCC report was released, the fossil fuel monopolies were cognizant about their future. As the climate disturbance of droughts, floods, fires, ice melts and rising sea-levels rolls steadily downhill out of control the oil and gas gangsters are obstructing every attempt by the worlds people to slow down the catastrophe. We must emphasise the term slow down as it is too late to stop.
Carbon dioxide levels today are higher than at any point in at least the past 800,000 years. In 2021, atmospheric carbon dioxide levels reached a high of 416.45 parts per million, in comparison to 1960 levels which stood at about 316.91 If we want to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, the emission of greenhouse gases must peak by 2025 and fall by 43 per cent of the 2019 level by 2030. Peter Sainsbury Pearls & Irritations 24 April 2022
The oil monopolies in Australia have wielded force to defend their profits. Aided by think tanks like the IPA, worldwide media resources of News Corp and a trough full of ex-politicians like Downer, Ian MacFarlane, Nick Greiner, Nick Minchin, Martin Ferguson & Greg Combet who have joined the board or act as consultants in Australia, to the fossil monopolies. The state governments too, wooed by the skimpy trinkets of “royalties” always bow to the fossil.
The oil and gas gangsters have entre to the commonwealth of Australia. Seeking land for fracking, they batter communities by bribes or escalating court action or go straight to the top of government to get state strategic approval. Their tax dodging pockets are very deep, and they can pay for the best advice.
Indubitably, despite expert scientific advice and community feeling they eventually gain approval. In eastern Australia, in the Darling Downs , Narrabri and Gunnedah areas to mention a few, the fossil fuel companies endanger the meagre food bowl of Australian with their mining and fracking activities. At risk, water from the aquifers and artesian basins for drinking and crops being poisoned by fracking or used by mining operations. Community and farmers groups like Lock the Gate unite thousands across Australia against this environmental atrocity.
As scientific and community action turned against coal then gas was offered as a clean transitional (profitable) energy source. Most of this mined gas is offered for export with extremely high prices offered to local consumers.
At the same time, the power sources available for Australians are basically coal fired generation and the private installation of solar photo-voltaic arrays. There was a stampede for the latter and fossil governments and power companies based were forced to reconcile with this market driven movement. The paid ideologues conspired with governments to stymy major investment in renewable energy – solar ,wind and hydrogen that may have served the people of Australia.
Billions of dollars of formal and informal subsidies flood the fossil fuel monopolies, boosting their bloated multi- billion-dollar profit lines. For example, the diesel fuel subsidy originally for agriculture on poor rural roads now has exploded to $8 billion ( 2021-22) paid mostly to foreign mining monopiles from the people of Australia.
Billions have been pissed down the gutter in spurious carbon capture experiments and schemes.
Government investment in these technologies is actually worse than doing nothing on climate change. These are not just false solutions—CCS has missed every target ever set for it globally—they are part of the great carbon fraud that in the short-term will divert over $2 billion in taxpayers’ money to the gas and coal industry, and in the long-term increase the greenhouse gas emissions driving climate change Carbon capture and storage is a proven failure. Even if CCS ‘worked’ (which it does not) it is designed to only capture and store underground a small fraction of CO2 from gas and coal. It never captures the gases that leak out of the ground during extraction or those that are produced from burning the fossil fuels themselves. The only thing CCS has successfully captured at scale in Australia is public money. Collectively, the Australian governments has committed more than four billion dollars in public money to CCS with nothing to show for it. What CCS does do well is provide excuses to keep drilling. Ben Oquist Australia Institute 19 March 2022
Australia is a continent flooded with sun across three time zones. It was an early innovator and user of solar and photo-voltaic energy, but the dead hand of fossil fuel monopolies has squeezed viable life out of any hope of a major plans.
In order to meet our greenhouse emission target Australians will need to use public transport and reduce individual vehicle use.
Australia had the highest greenhouse gas emissions per inhabitant of all OECD nations in 2019, at 21.63 metric tons per capita. This was followed by the United States and Canada, who produced 19.93 and 19.52 metric tons per capita respectively. 14 Apr 2022
Yet our governments criss-cross cities with tolled roads and carve public transport back to a residual minimum. Sectors are privatized and run-down forcing people back into cars and ensuring the profits of oil and gas companies a bright future.
The losers are people in outlying, regional and remote areas.
The lack of very fast rail anywhere in Australia speaks to the stranglehold of oil companies dominating governments in Australia .
A democratic people’s government of Australia would harness the enthusiastic and bountiful minds of Australian science and technology and get to work providing clean renewable energy sources for all Australians remote, regional, and urban so that we can play our part in slowing the rate of global warming.
